Unprecedented success on the football field, a once-in-a-generation tennis team and a school that won three state championships highlighted an unbelievable fall sports season for schools in the Town&Style coverage area.

football
For the first time in state history, four St. Louis area schools won state championships this year, and three of them were from the West County area. CBC started things off with a title in Class 6 (the largest schools in Missouri). It was the third in the last five years for the Cadets, who also won state titles in 2014 and 2017. CBC finished the season with a record of 12-1. Its only loss came against an outof- state team, St. John’s College, 59-49. The Cadets were an offensive juggernaut, scoring at least 45 points in every game. They outscored their opponents 733-258. The Cadets cruised through the postseason with wins over St. Louis University High (63-0), Hazelwood West (69-8), De Smet (63-28) Joplin (56-21) and Rockhurst (45-21). CBC totally dominated in the championship game against Rockhurst, outgaining the Hawks 594-158. Brett Gabbert threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns, and Julian Williams had nine receptions for 160 yards and a pair of scores.

Vianney, which plays in the same Metro Catholic Conference as CBC, won its second state title in three years, capturing the Class 5 title. The Griffins advanced to the title game with postseason wins over Parkway West (56-14), Chaminade (55-14), Jackson (69-28), and Carthage (36-21). Vianney dominated Fort Osage statistically in the championship game but trailed 14-0 at halftime.

Kyren Williams, a Notre Dame recruit, took things over in the second half and willed the Griffins to victory. He rushed for 289 yards on 26 carries and had five receptions for 65 yards. He recorded the play of the game in the third quarter, when he rushed for a 79-yard touchdown in the waning seconds to bring the Griffins to within a point at 14-13. Williams had a spectacular senior season as he rushed for 2,035 yards on 179 carries (an amazing 11.4 yards per rush). He also had 55 receptions for 725 yards and scored 40 touchdowns.

Vianney finished the season with a 12-3 record. Two of its losses came to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Elder, Ohio. Its only loss to a local team came against Class 6 champion CBC, 70-28.

The Class 4 championship game may have been the overall highlight of the season for area football. Sixty-four teams play in Class 4, and the championship came down to a pair of schools just a mile apart on Warson Road.

Ladue capped off an undefeated season with a 48-11 victory over MICDS. The title for the Rams (Ladue Rams, that is, as MICDS has the same mascot) was their first in school history. They were knocking on the door the last two seasons, losing to Kearney in the semifinals in 2016 and to Webb City in the championship game last year, 14-0.

Ladue outscored its opponents 581-122 in winning its 15 games this season. The biggest test came against perennial power Webb City in the semifinals. Ladue traveled to far Southwest Missouri and defeated the Cardinals 17-13. The other postseason wins came against Westminster (49-0), St. Mary’s (42-7), Summit (38-15) and West Plains (26-0).

Trinity gave the St. Louis area its fourth state championship. And like Class 4, it was an all-St. Louis final as Trinity defeated Cardinal Ritter, 45-19, in Class 3. There are very few St. Louis-area teams that play in the state’s smallest classes, Class 1 and Class 2.

John Burroughs

girls tennis
Visitation athletic director Paul Stoecklin called the John Burroughs tennis team a ‘once in a generation’ squad.

The Bombers had four returning state champions in their lineup—Sami Remis and Gaby Thornton in singles, and Lily Walther and Ainsley Heidbreder in doubles. And a freshman, Emily Kantrovitz, actually won challenge matches against them all and played the No. 1 singles spot in the lineup throughout the season.

John Burroughs finished the season with a perfect 17-0 record. The Bombers were so dominant that they lost just six courts the entire season, and none in the postseason when they defeated Rosati-Kain (5-0), Kennett (5-0), Pembroke Hill (5-0) and Visitation (5-0). The closest match of the season came in the Great Eight Tournament to begin the season, when they defeated Pembroke Hill 7-2.

The Bombers followed up their team title by winning the individual doubles title with Remis, who won the singles crown last year, and Thornton, who defeated Remis in the 2016 state singles champion. Kantrovitz finished second in Class 1 singles.

The championship match was an all-area affair as Visitation made the finals. The Vivettes also cruised to the championship match with convincing wins over Incarnate Word (5-0), Helias (5-0) and Springfield Catholic (5-0).

Sophia McLellan played No. 1 for the Vivettes. She won her second individual medal in doubles with Ashley Hagan, while freshman Laura Finnie was third in singles at state. Lizzie Barlow of Villa Duchesne was fourth in singles.

St. Joseph’s Academy had a spectacular year, finishing third in the state team event in Class 2. The Angels scored a dramatic 5-4 win over Lafayette in the sectional round and then defeated Lindbergh 5-0 to reach the final four. The Angels lost to Lee’s Summit West 5-2 in the semifinals and ended the season with a 6-0 win over Springfield Central.

Ellie Choate and Lexi Woodman were the top two singles players for the Angels. They capped off their season with a state title in doubles, Class 2. They defeated teammates Shannon Sims and Nancy Serafin in the title match.

girls volleyball
It was another all-area championship match in volleyball as a pair of Rockwood School District teams played for the title at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Eureka defeated Lafayette in a hotly contested match, 25-23, 25-23 to capture the Class 4 championship.

It was the first state volleyball championship for the Wildcats. Lafayette, on the other hand, was playing in the championship match for the seventh time in the last eight years. No other area team reached the final four in the other three classes.

field hockey
Area teams also dominated this sport, with yet another all-area championship match. And it was a thriller with Villa Duchesne edging MICDS 1-0 for the Midwest Field Hockey Association title at Sportport.

Taryn Tkachuk had the goal for the Saints in the title match, and Claire Douglass had the shutout. The goal was the 29th of the season for Tkachuk. She shared the league lead in that category with Kate Oliver of MICDS.

Villa Duchesne did not lose in its last 12 games, recording 11 victories and a tie, and the team finished the season with a 22-5-1 record. All five losses came against out-of-state teams. The championship was the second in a row for the Saints.

boys cross countryKirkwood’s Christian Baker won the individual Class 4 meet at the Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City. Baker, who missed a medal last year with a 29th place finish (the top 25 get medals), became the first Kirkwood boy’s cross country champion in 51 years. It was not Baker’s first gold medal, though, as he won the 3,200-meter run and was part of the state champion 4×800-meter Pioneer team in track.

St. Louis University High won its first team trophy since 2014, finishing second to Rockhurst in Class 4. Lafayette was fourth and Kirkwood was fifth in Class 4. Clayton and Westminster had top 10 team finishes in Class 3. Clayton was fifth and Westminster was ninth.

Maplewood’s Malik Stewart came in second individually in Class 2.

girls cross country
Four area teams had top 10 finishes, although there were no individual champions. Parkway West finished second behind Lee’s Summit West in Class 4, and Marquette was fifth in Class 4.

Westminster and MICDS were in the top 10 in Class 3. Westminster came in fifth and MICDS eighth.

Kylie Goldfarb of John Burroughs had the best area finish individually, ranking second in Class 3. Isabella Boedefeld of Visitation also finished in the top 10, placing ninth in Class 3. Katelynn Quade of Marquette had the best finish in Class 4, at fourth.

St. Joseph’s

girls golf
Two more area state championships came in this sport, and neither was an easy victory. St. Joseph’s Academy won the Class 2 meet, defeating Notre Dame de Sion by just four strokes. The Angels finished with a score of 627. Notre Dame de Sion recorded a 631, while Rock Bridge was a distant third at 671.

John Burroughs captured another title as it edged Springfield Catholic by just two strokes (701-703). Once again, this was a two-team race, as MICDS was a solid third at 739. Logan-Rogersville came in a very distant fourth with a score of 800.

St. Joseph’s had an unprecedented five team members finish in the top 12 and medal as they captured their third consecutive Missouri state Class 2 championship. Grace Aromando finished fourth, Nicole Rallo was sixth, Lauren Gallagher was ninth, Mia Rallo was eleventh and Drew Nienhaus was 12th. Lafayette’s Brooke Biermann was second.

Parker Perry of MICDS had the best Class 1 tournament, finishing third. Emma Buell of Villa Duchesne and Claire Pan of John Burroughs tied for fourth.

John Burroughs

boys soccerCBC and John Burroughs both took home state titles in soccer. The Cadets won their last 13 games to capture the Class 4 championship. CBC defeated Holt (1-0), Chaminade (3-1), Rockhurst (3-0) and De Smet (1-0) in the post-season. CBC allowed only three goals in that 13-game winning streak and finished the season with a 25-2-2 record. The Cadets outscored their opponents 80-15.

De Smet also recorded a dominant season in Class 4, finishing second with a record of 22-4-2. The Spartans outscored their opponents 72-15. Two of their four losses came against CBC.

Defense was the calling card for Class 2 champion John Burroughs, which won its last nine games and gave up just one goal in the process. The Bombers defeated Monett in the semifinals 1-0 and beat St. Charles West 3-0 in the title game. It was just the second loss in 27 matches for St. Charles West. John Burroughs finished the season with an 18-6-1 record.

Two other area teams reached the championship match. Principia lost to Barstow 3-2 on penalty kicks in Class 1. The Panthers lost despite outshooting Barstow 27-11 in the match, including 8-1 scores in the two overtime periods.

Webster Groves made it to the championship game in Class 3 after postseason wins over Priory (1-0), Farmington (3-0) and Glendale (4-0). But the Statesmen fell in the championship game to Fort Zumwalt South, 2-1.

softball
It was another special season at Marquette, which came ever so close to winning the Class 4 state title. The Mustangs, who won 14 of their first 15 games, finished the season with a record of 23-5. The five losses came by a combined six runs and two of those came in the final four.

Marquette reached the final four after a 3-0 sectional win over Webster Groves and a 12-2 victory over Oakville. But the Mustangs lost their two games at the Killian Complex in Springfield by identical 6-5 scores, falling to Blue Springs South in the semifinals and Raymore-Peculiar in the third-place game.

Annah Junge had another dominant season for the Mustangs. She was 18-4 on the mound with a 1.06 ERA. Junge struck out 262 and walked just 39 in 144.7 innings.

CBC

boys swimmingSt. Louis University High captured its first state championship since 2003, winning the Class 2 meet at the St. Peters RecPlex. The Junior Bills won with 250 points, and Liberty was second with 235 points. CBC also came home with a trophy for its third-place finish.

The Junior Bills capped the meet with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay with seniors Joseph Feder, Daniel Fink and William Statin and freshman Cooper Scharff. Scharff also finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard freestyle.

CBC senior Brooks Cosman had an outstanding final high school meet, winning the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. August Brandt was another Cadet individual champion, winning the 100-yard butterfly.

Five area teams finished in the top 10 in Class 1, but there were no individual area champions. Parkway West had the best area showing, finishing third behind champion Cape Central and Glendale. MICDS (fifth), Chaminade (eighth), Parkway Central (ninth) and Clayton (10th) also finished in the top 10.